A Whole New World
by sometimes.i.am.lola
Summary: Steve and his team get (conditional) pardons for the oncoming war against Thanos. But, seeing new faces added to the Avengers roster doesn't sit right with Steve and his Merry Band. (NOT STEVE FRIENDLY)
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_ _So, this just sort of happened. There are no vampire politics in this story, just Eric and Pam doing their own thing in a world of superheroes. I can expand on this story and I am willing to expand on this story, if that's what anyone wants. Just hit me up on here or Tumblr._ _Enjoy!_

Steve pulls up short as he steps into the conference room. Seated with Tony are two people that he knows fairly well and three complete strangers. All three strangers are blonde and blue eyed and two of them are female. The only male of the trio looks large, even seated. His blonde hair brushes his broad shoulders as he tilts his head at Steve and his team.

He wears a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt, and black jeans, paired with black motorcycle boots. His skin is pale, almost abnormally so, but there's a slight gold sheen to it.

One of the blonde women is standing up, just behind and to the left of the man, leaning against his chair in a casual move while still looking as if she's posing. She's tall, close to the same height as Sam is but her boots cause her to be a few inches taller. Her long blonde hair is parted straight down the middle and falls in loose waves down her back and over her chest.

She's dressed in a bubblegum pink leather jacket, a black t-shirt, black skinny jeans and bubblegum pink leather boots that came up to her knees.

The other blonde woman is sitting next to the large man, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She's dressed more simply in a white sundress that's covered in pink lace flowers. She looks sweet and innocent, especially compared to the two blondes with her.

But her fingers are laced together with the big blonde man's fingers where their hands rest on the table. So, maybe she's not as sweet and innocent as she appears. After all, the large man and tall woman practically scream danger.

"Okay, now that you're here, can everyone take a seat?" Pepper asks as she stands up from the head of the table and motions to the chairs on the opposite side of the table from Tony.

"What about her?" Clint finally speaks up as Steve and his team sit down. He looks to see that Clint is motioning towards the tall woman who has yet to take a seat.

Pepper looks at the other woman and then back at Clint. "Miss de Beaufort is here for security purposes. If she sits at the table, it could impede her response time."

The three blondes smirk at Pepper's words but Clint scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"Security? If she's here for security then sitting down shouldn't _impede_ her response time. Unless she's not that good at her job."

"Pamela." The large man says in a deep and gravelly voice. "Versace."

"Yes, Master. I remember." The woman, apparently Pamela de Beaufort, answers and it confuses Steve. Are they speaking in code? They must be. And 'Master'? What's that about?

"Now, on to business." Pepper says as she clears her throat and Steve notices the laminated folders in her hands. She starts separating them and passing them around as she calls out each of Steve's teams names. "This is the new code of conduct for the Avengers Initiative. It includes ways to conduct yourself in many different settings including but not limited to press conferences, charity events, and missions."

"Wait, if this is an Avengers meeting then shouldn't only Avengers be present?" Steve asks, wondering why they're dealing with private issues in view of people that it doesn't concern.

"And that's precisely what's happening with the exception that the majority of the Avengers teams couldn't be present due to other obligations." Pepper says with a politely blank expression on her face.

"What does that mean?" Clint asks in a slightly raised tone. "You seriously added unqualified strangers to the Avengers without consulting the leader or any of us?"

"You're either very brave or very stupid but I will assume that whatever backwoods education you received did not teach you to read." Pamela says in a bored tone, her expression reflecting the tone. "Because if you could read, then you would have read the papers you signed before returning to the US and known that the Avengers have greatly expanded."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Clint asks harshly, pushing away from the table and leaning towards the woman in an intimidating stance. She looks him up and down slowly, her expression still bored, before looking down at her fingernails as if she's completely unimpressed.

"That's enough, Mr. Barton." Pepper says in a hard, sharp tone. "I might not condone unnecessary violence, but I think severe annoyance is more than justified and you are greatly annoying Miss de Beaufort. You do not want to annoy Miss de Beaufort."

"Oh, yeah? And why is that?" Clint asks, glancing at Pepper with a glare.

The blonde man lets go of the other woman's hand as he stands up slowly. He's even larger than Steve had originally estimated. Even taller than Thor, which is saying something.

"Because, if you annoy Pam, you annoy me. And you do not want to annoy me because I _do_ condone violence. In fact, I revel in it." The man's voice is a deep growl but his face remains empty and stoic. Pamela is smirking behind him and Steve gives her the disappointed look he's had to use often on Tony.

"I'm not scared of you." Clint hisses and the man suddenly grins.

"Your heart says different." The man replies before long fangs snap into place in his mouth with an audible click.

Clint flinches and goes to reach for one of his hidden weapons but before any of them can do anything, the man has Clint by the front of his shirt using one hand, halfway over the table. His other hand is holding pieces of fabric and a compact combat knife.

Looking Clint over, Steve realizes that the man had ripped the weapon off of Clint through his clothes, leaving a large hole in the side pocket of his cargo pants.

"Get your hands off of him!" Wanda screeches as her and Natasha both stand up.

Wanda points her red glowing hands at Tony but is pulled up short by the blonde in the sundress who has glowing hands, one pointed at Tony and the other pointed at Wanda. Natasha takes a step and is suddenly in the air, struggling, with Pamela's hand wrapped around her throat in an almost casual way.

Pamela doesn't look like she's trying at all as she holds Natasha with one hand, her grip so tight that Natasha is dangerously close to passing out. Pamela is also showcasing some impressive new fangs.

"What the hell are you people?" Steve hears Sam ask and glances over to see that Sam and Bucky have moved back from the group as a whole and are standing against the far wall.

Neither of the fanged blondes answer and neither does the woman with glowing hands.

"Steve, I, I can't, I can't read them." Wanda says with panic in her voice.

"Oh, sweetheart," the blonde with glowing hands says. "You don't want to."

With a sinking feeling, Steve has to wonder what the rest of the new Avengers are like.


	2. Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat

_**A/N: This took longer than expected because I came down with a cold but here you go! :) Hope you enjoy!**_

It's over a week after that first meeting that Steve's newly returned team is unceremoniously called into another meeting. They've been warned that there will be more participants this time and any unprofessional conduct will be dealt with according to the actions taken by the offender and the offended. It's irritating to read between the lines and know that Steve's team will be in a room of unbiased and impartial people that don't have the full story and don't like Steve and his team because of that.

When the get to the meeting room they're greeted with the sight of Pepper once again standing at the head of a long table. Standing a little behind and to the side of her is a man Steve doesn't recognize. He's wearing an impeccable three-piece suit in all black down to the shirt and tie. The cut is expensive enough that Steve almost misses the slight bulge of a gun in a shoulder harness. His black hair is parted down the middle and brushed back, the strands a little longer than Bucky's hair but more styled. His facial hair was immaculately trimmed along his jawline.

Altogether, the man didn't look like he belonged in the room with the Avengers at all. He looked like he should be in a board meeting or something.

The three blondes, Eric, Sookie, and Pam, as they'd come to learn, are seated on the side of the table opposite the door. Tony and Rhodey are also on that side of the table along with a blonde man that shared a resemblance with Sookie, a redhead who Steve is pretty sure is a teenager, and a darkly tanned man about the same size as the blonde, Eric.

Steve's slightly enhanced senses smell the familiar scent of snow and copper from Pam and Eric, but now from the redhead, too. Steve would have to keep an eye on her if she was related to the blondes.

The larger man, his thick, black hair falling in messy loose curls around his face and ears, smelled like pine and dirt with a slight animal tinge. Maybe he has a dog.

Sookie and the man that looks like her both smell like cookies and sunshine. Something about it bothers Steve but h doesn't have time to think about it because the man standing behind Pepper smells like gun powder, oil, and steel. Steve knows that smell. It's the way Natasha smells after a mission, or the way Fury smelled all the time. Maybe not now, since retirement, but Steve doubts that.

"If you would all kindly take a seat, we can get started." Pepper says and no one objects this time since everyone else is already sitting except for the man behind Pepper. He stays standing, face empty and his left hand clasping his right wrist in front of his body.

Steve takes the opportunity to look down the table at his teammates. Sam is on one side of him with Natasha on the other side. Clint is next to her, followed by Wanda. Bucky is sitting a couple seats down with Scott beside him and Steve has to work to keep from frowning.

He knows Bucky isn't completely comfortable around other people yet and Tony and the so-called new members of the Avengers are only making it worse by being so divisive. Steve can't help but notice that Bucky keeps shooting glances at the man behind Pepper and when he looks at

Natasha her eyes have narrowed infinitesimally. It's nothing anyone else would notice but it's enough that Steve lightly nudges her and she barely glances at him before looking at the man Bucky keeps looking at.

Steve doesn't understand why they keep looking at the man like that, like they know something that everyone else doesn't, but he figures he can ask them after the meeting. If there's something wrong, he needs to know so that he can keep his team safe.

Tony hasn't always been the best judge of character and, apparently, Pepper and Rhodey are no better as evidenced by their history with Obadiah Stane, Justin Hammer, and Aldrich Killian, not to mention the three new blondes.

So, this new man needed to be watched and, if necessary, removed from the Avengers Compound.

"Miss Potts," Natasha speaks up in a soft and polite voice that Steve's never heard before. I don't mean to interrupt but I was wondering if you'd forgotten to add a name to the meeting itinerary that you sent us."

"It's Mrs. Stark, Ms. Romanov." Pepper says with a polite smile. "And, no, I didn't forget a name on the itinerary. If you'll recall the list said that I would have a plus one. He is not part of the Avengers Initiative, not directly."

"Would you mind explaining what he's in the meeting for then?" Natasha asks in that same voice. "I mean, as I recall, it was stated that the meeting was for Avengers Initiative members and prospects."

"You're quite right, Ms. Romanov." Pepper says before straightening and pulling up something on her tablet that is then displayed as a hologram in the middle of the table. "But an addendum was added that stated that since I am not an active Avengers Initiative member and only a reserve member, but that I am the CEO and co-owner of Stark Industries and therefore have a certain weight with the Initiative and the Council that I am required for certain meetings. And as I am required for certain meetings while also holding a reserve membership and a very high position in an international company with many political, military, and environmental connections that I require an extra measure of protection under certain circumstances."

"And those circumstances include the Avengers Initiative itself that you are, self-admittedly, a part of?"

"No, Ms. Romanov," Pepper says with another smile. "Those circumstances include being around individuals that are deemed mentally, physically, or even financially, dangerous to myself and Stark Industries. It includes circumstances that require me to be around individuals that hold no respect for laws of the land or codes of conduct or even friendship."

"That still doesn't explain who this man is in a way that I feel comfortable with to the extent that we're required to talk about Avengers business in front of him."

"I assure you, Ms. Romanov, Mr. Wick is quite inconspicuous when the need arises." Pepper says in a way that suggests the subject is closed.

Steve doesn't miss the way Natasha and Bucky both flinch at the man's name, though. And he can almost swear that the man's lip twitches for just a moment before his face is once again impassive.

A shining glint in his eye is the only sign of his amusement. If Steve didn't know better, he would think the man is less human than Vision.


	3. The Sun, the Moon, the Truth

**A/N: I am so sorry that it's been so long. So much has gone on in my life and I kind of had to take a step back from literally everything. But, I'm pretty sure I'm back now so on with the show. :D Enjoy!**

Weeks go by, weeks that are filled with meetings and seminars and training videos, and a multitude of other unnecessary things. Steve doesn't like being treated as if he doesn't know how to do his own job. But, the council is requiring them to jump through hoops to show that they're ready to go out into the field.

They'd been told that everyone else had been through the same procedures but Steve doubts that. They were just told that so they'd be placated. But, that's not his style.

The team sits through it, though, for now. And when they're alone, they talk and plan.

Nothing has been set into motion yet, though.

Weeks ago, Steve had asked Bucky and Natasha about Pepper's supposed bodyguard. Though, why someone with extremis would need a bodyguard, he doesn't know. Nat and Bucky had both told him their own stories of John Wick, Pepper's bodyguard, also known in some circles as Baba Yaga.

Apparently, the man had at one point worked for the Russian mob. As a hitman. That alone is enough to make Steve uncomfortable having the man around but he's supposedly involved in an underground organization of assassins.

Natasha, Clint, and Bucky had all been assassins at one time but there were extenuating circumstances involved in each of their situations. And Wanda has more than made up for her past with Hydra by joining the Avengers and helping to save the world.

Steve has to wonder how Tony is comfortable having someone like that around Pepper, especially since the man seems to follow her everywhere like some weird, murderous shadow. He's even around when she comes to the compound for personal reasons. Part of Steve has wondered if Pepper is having an affair with the man.

Tony is always so busy and spends so much time with other people, it would make sense.

He'd been told that Wick has a wife but Steve has yet to see her and to him, that lends credence to his theory on the affair. No wife would want her husband around another woman that much. It's unseemly.

The thought is pushed out of his head, though, when he realizes that Sam has stopped walking next to the island that sits in the area between the common room and the kitchen. They've just finished their daily run and Steve's ready to get something to eat. He'd been talking to Sam about Tony mentioning a team that lived in California somewhere due to other obligations.

As far as Steve is concerned, there's no obligation that trumps being an Avenger. People that can't be fully committed shouldn't even be on the team.

"What's wrong?" Steve asks his friend but Sam's eyes are wide and his breathing is starting to get a little fast. "Sam?"

"No sudden moves, Steve." Sam says as Steve rounds the corner.

And there he spots what froze Sam, standing in the middle of the common room in front of the sectional sofa, is a black wolf with the strangest eyes that Steve has ever seen. He's pretty sure that wolves don't have red eyes.

The wolf's lips are pulled back in a snarl, showing large, gleaming white teeth.

Behind him, on the sectional, is a sleeping young woman, one arm under her head and the other wrapped protectively around the slight protrusion of her stomach. Her skin is pale with small moles decorating one side.

"Friday?" Steve calls out as he holds his hands up towards the wild animal. He has no idea if he can but he has to try to get to the pregnant girl. "Call the team."

"Mr. Stark and Mr. Wick are on their way to assist with Alpha Hale, Mr. Rogers." The AI says and Steve has no idea what she's talking about when she says Alpha Hale. And leaving off his title grates at his nerves.

"Friday, there's a wild animal in the compound." Sam says calmly.

The wolf growls low in it's throat and Steve has a moment to wonder if there's a way for him to handle this without getting bitten. He doesn't particularly want to get bitten.

A whimper from the sofa draws his attention and he looks over to see the woman has woken up and moved to a sitting position. She rubs a hand over her eyes and then into her short, messy hair before looking around.

"Derek?" She calls out, seemingly unfazed that there's a dangerous wild animal right in front of her. "What's going on?"

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to stay calm and explain how you got here." Steve tells the obviously confused girl.

She looks at him for a moment and he's starting to wonder about her cognitive function but then she lets out a bright laugh. She's still laughing as Stark and Wick walk into the room. Stark looks at her fondly if exasperatedly.

"Stiles, really?" Stark asks the girl and Steve is confused about why no one is freaking out about the wolf still in their midst.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's the pups." The girl, Stiles, says with a fond pat to her belly. Pups? "Derek, come on, now. I'm okay."

Steve watches as the wolf throws it's head back and howls, long and low.

It seems to be waiting for something and a few moments later a stunning redhead walks into the room followed by two men, one blonde and one brown-haired. Both look on the young side, though one looks like an Abercrombie model and the other looks like the boy-next-door type. Both men are clearly physically fit.

The redhead, while gorgeous, gives off the same no-nonsense air as Pepper and Steve finds himself irritated by it. He doesn't know why. Maybe it's because both women seem so closed off and cold compared to those around them. Though, this redhead seems a bit haughtier than Pepper.

In her hands is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that she places on the couch with a slight smirk.

"I'm not your maid, Derek." She says and Steve has still yet to see this Derek person. "In fact, I was a bit busy in the lab with Tony and Bruce. But, I thought I'd be nice and bring you clothes. If you keep this up, I'm gonna buy a little doggy backpack and force you to carry it around."

Okay, maybe Derek is the wolf. But why would he need clothes?

"Thank you, Lydia, you're a goddess." Stiles says with a small laugh. "And thank you Parrish, Jackson."

"No problem, Stiles." The brown-haired man says with a soft smile. The blonde just nods before they turn to leave.

"What the hell is going on?" Steve finally asks. "Who are these people, Tony?"

"That's Lydia, Parrish, Jackson, Stiles, and Derek." Tony says pointing at the redhead, the brown-haired man, the blonde man, the pregnant girl, and the wolf in that order. "Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that, Rogers."

Steve's about to retort when suddenly, the wolf is no longer standing there. Instead, a man with olive skin and black hair is in it's place, completely naked. Steve's eyes widen in horror when he sees the red eyes, fangs, and claws on the man before his face turns into a more human looking one.

The man has strange eyes that can't seem to settle on blue, green, grey, or hazel. And he's well-built which is obvious to everyone as he finally turns to pick up the jeans and slides them up his legs, revealing a tattoo between his shoulders.

Everyone in the room keeps a polite eye above the waist except for the pregnant girl.

"Damn." She says with a voice filled with awe and the others laugh.

"What. The. Hell." Sam says finally and Steve looks over to see him looking shaken. "I'm done. So done."

With that, Sam turns and leaves the room. Steve follows shortly after, wondering if he should get Natasha to do some checking into who these people are.

Someone that can turn into a wolf obviously isn't human and Steve isn't sure he's comfortable being around a thing like that.


	4. Pretty, and Mean, and Violent

Natasha has done what she could do advise Steve but he seems determined to ignore every warning she could think to give him.

After their first disastrous meeting where the vampire woman, Pamela Swynford de Beaufort, had effortlessly held her in the air, letting her dangle by her throat while the woman checked her nails, Natasha had thrown herself into finding out everything she could about anyone that was even slightly involved in the Avengers Initiative since the fight at the airport and their ensuing fugitive status.

Natasha had regretted her actions as soon as she'd done them, but had found herself unable to admit that, unable to throw herself on the mercy of Tony Stark. And she knows that he has a lot of mercy for those that are truly willing to admit to their wrong-doings and turn their lives around. Those that are willing to make amends.

Tony has never been one to hold himself above others, or to hold things against someone once they've apologized and worked towards bettering themselves. He'd forgiven her for posing as Natalie Rushman once she'd found a private moment to talk to him about it. On some level, he'd understood that she was doing her job and it was nothing personal, seeing as she didn't even know him then.

They'd had to work at gaining any sort of trust between them, trust that had been slightly bent and cracked on her end once Shield fell. She'd started falling back into old patterns and Tony had waited patiently for her to figure out on her own that he wasn't out to get her or use her.

Going over the pardons they'd agreed to and the accompanying paperwork, she'd eventually found the section that discussed the new roster of Avengers, full-time, part-time, and reserve members. The part that she'd skimmed over at first, letting her arrogance take over for a moment and embarrassing herself by trying to go after someone that she had no real chance of beating.

It didn't mention much about abilities, weaknesses, or anything else, but she knew that the list they'd been provided was just the basics. She could get more information on request.

She'd asked Friday for the relevant files to be downloaded onto her tablet, the one that had been provided for her. It had taken a surprising amount of time to download all of the relevant information. Natasha knew that the list was extensive but she was starting to understand a bit more just how many people were involved. People all over the world were involved, not just a small group in one place, like it had been originally.

The first file she'd opened had been Pam's. There wasn't a lot of information but there was a video from her evaluation, an evaluation carried out by a large panel of people including various types of doctors.

In the video, Pam is standing in the middle of a training room wearing what appeared to be black leather pants and a tight, black t-shirt. Her thigh-high, black boots have an unreasonably high heel that is clearly not a problem for the woman.

The video is obviously slowed down as Natasha watches training droids move towards the woman all at once.

She looks bored as the first one takes a swipe at her from behind. Pam ducks, bending at the waist and sending one foot back to catch the droid in the chest area. The droid is thrown back quite a few feet despite the kick looking casual. Pam lifts back up, her long hair flipping in it's ponytail.

Her arms reach out catching a droid in each hand and spinning to toss them to opposite sides of the room. She grabs the one in front of her now by the head and does a flip, twisting to bring herself behind the droid with her knees on the droids back as she twists it's head off and throws it behind her with a flick of her wrist.

The next droid just so happens to be the last. Pam plants her feet on the ground and runs at the droid, her long legs eating up the distance in no time and she plants one heeled boot on the droids thigh area, sort of running up it's body as her other foot goes to the droids chest.

The foot that was on the droids thigh goes over it's shoulder and Pam lets her momentum swing her body as she goes over the droids shoulder, tightening her thigh around the droids neck and giving it a squeeze. The head pops off as Pam gives a smile that can only be described as vicious.

She opens her legs, letting her feet hit the ground on either side of the motionless droid, popping one hip and placing her hand on it, raising one brow.

The whole fight lasted about two seconds.

"Miss Romanov, I'm sensing an elevated heart rate. Is everything okay?" Friday had asked her in a calm tone. She'd had to assure the AI that she was fine.

Friday has been surprisingly forthcoming with answers to Natasha's questions and her and the AI have spent hours upon hours talking about all of the changes that have been made to the compound and the Avengers roster.

They've gone over the Accords and all of the revisions and amendments multiple times. Friday has become something of a friend and possible ally to Natasha as the woman has worked to understand and adhere to the way things are now. She's also been a great help in Natasha's quest for redemption.

Natasha has already messed up a few times, unintentional and small as those moments may have been. Then, she'd tried to warn Steve of John Wick but he hadn't seemed to understand what she was trying to say. She'd hoped that Clint could help her, or maybe Yasha, but Clint hadn't been much help and Yasha had simply advised Steve to leave the man alone.

After watching the video of Pam, Natasha had watched a few videos of the others including Eric Northman, Alcide Herveaux, Jessica Hamby, and Jordan Parrish. Eric and Jessica are both vampires, Alcide is apparently a werewolf, and Jordan Parish is a hellhound.

Currently, Natasha is sitting in the common room. No one is talking to her except Jessica Hamby who has spoken to her a few times. Everyone else isn't really ignoring her, they just aren't really interacting with her.

Tony, Pepper, and Jason Stackhouse are sitting in a small group talking about Jason's wife and their two children. They apparently live in a small town in Louisiana but are currently in the city to visit Sookie, Jason's sister, and are out shopping and sight-seeing.

Alcide is talking to Derek Hale, both are alphas, but Derek has a small pack and Alcide is on his own, preferring to be a lone wolf, literally.

Eric is sitting on the loveseat, nearly taking up the whole seat, with Sookie sitting on one thigh, his arm around her, and Pam draped over the arm of the seat and Eric's other side.

John Wick, Rhodes, and a very pregnant Stiles Stilinski are sitting at the large island counter that separates the kitchen from the rest of the room. Stiles is smiling, with all her teeth showing, as a black man in a pink lace shirt and black jeans attempts to show Vision and a new blonde woman how to make something called Burger Lafayette.

The man, apparently the Lafayette that the burger is named for, keeps giving Stiles samples of the array of dishes he already has fixed up. He's been showing Vision how to create multiple dishes over the past few hours.

It had been announced to the room that they're gonna have a buffet style lunch so none of the food goes to waste.

The couch dips slightly and Natasha glances over to see that the redheaded vampire, Jessica, has taken a seat next to her once more.

"Is it true that you once beat up a group of men while tied to a chair?" the woman asks in a near-whisper as she leans towards Natasha slightly, her eyes a little wide.

Natasha turns her head and body more fully to face the woman. She looks her over, taking in the light grey jeans, and her black lace camisole. There are black ankle boots on her feet, with sharp looking heels and a light grey lace covering the entire shoe. The red bottom shows how expensive the boots are.

Jessica's red hair is long and straight, falling around her pale shoulders and down her back.

"I did." Natasha answers her after a moment.

"That is so cool." The redhead says with a smile. "I mean, I've met some women that could kick some serious butt, but you're mostly human. It's different, ya know?"

Natasha feels herself stiffen at the woman's words but then lets her body lose it's tension. While she'd never been fully honest with Shield or anyone else about herself, and while she's not quite as old as some would think, she's older than most know.

"Thank you." Natasha tells the woman with a nod.

Honestly, with all of the different beings that she's met or heard of, especially recently, she's started wondering about her own longevity and enhancements.

"Have you met Skeeter?" Jessica asks suddenly, moving to stand as Natasha's brow furrows. "Come on."

Jessica grabs her hand and Natasha is surprised at the coldness of it and the action itself. She stands up, though, and lets the woman lead her over to the island.

Wick nods at her and the dog laying under his stool lifts it's head and looks up at her with perked ears. It's a cute dog.

"Lafayette, Skeeter, this is Natasha." Jessica tells the black man and the blonde woman. "Natasha, that's Lafayette and that's Skeeter."

"Go on try some of this here food, you is entirely too skinny." Lafayette says to her, motioning to Vision. Vision loads a small plate with a variety of samples and slides it over to Natasha who cautiously picks up a thick steak fry covered on spices. She bites into the potato and has to suppress the groan of pleasure.

She slowly picks at the food as she takes a seat beside Stiles, Jessica staying next to her on her other side.

Natasha can't help but look at the blonde woman. Her hair is a long fall of white-blonde, with a golden shimmer. Her eyelashes and eyebrows are the same color as her hair and her eyes are a pale silvery blue.

There's a nasty scar on her forehead but it doesn't detract from her cuteness. Because that's what she is. Her face is very cute, but somehow it's not at odds with her lean and muscular body. She has well-defined biceps that are on display.

Her racer-back tank top is hot pink and she's wearing black leather shorts with hot pink fishnet underneath the shorts. Over-the-knee black socks cover part of the stockings and black combat boots are on her feet.

A belt made of thin chainmail is wrapped around her hips and she's wearing leather and chainmail gloves.

Skeeter moves like she's more used to fighting than cooking.

The woman pauses and her eyes unfocus slightly, making Natasha look at everyone else to see if they notice. They all continue going about their work and conversations as if nothing is happening so Natasha does the same.

After a moment, Skeeter continues helping with lunch and Natasha feels someone move behind her.

Glancing over, she notices Tony headed her way, and looks past him to Pepper. Pepper nods at her but Natasha can see the warning in her orange colored eyes.

"So, you staying for lunch?" Tony asks her as he moves to stand on the other side of Jessica.

"If that's okay." Natasha replies and gets a nod in return.

Something inside of her loosens and slowly unfurls, a slight warmth beginning to spread as Tony steals a piece of fried okra from her plate, popping it into his mouth before trying to sneak past Lafayette to steal a piece of cornbread.


	5. Illusions Destroyed

Sam has spent a lot of his time lately thinking. He's thought about a lot of things that he hadn't really considered in the beginning.

Before the media-dubbed Civil War, he had begun to stop questioning certain things. He's not sure why or when that really started, he just knows that it did. And afterwards, in the Raft, and then in Wakanda, he'd spent so long being angry that he hadn't questioned much at that point, either.

He hadn't questioned much about the fight at the airport or why it happened, just spent his time angry that it had.

Now, he feels like he hasn't spent more than a few seconds not thinking about everything that has happened.

Sitting outside, on one of the benches that have been set along the new walking path, he hears the sound of dogs barking. Looking towards the open area to the left of the new fenced-in playground, he sees Mr. Wick and his pit bull playing with the black wolf Sam saw transform into a man.

After thinking about it for some time, he figures that a man turning into a wolf isn't any more or less weird than a man turning into a huge green man that's pretty much invincible, or a man, and others, coming from space.

So far in his life, he's seen people turned into super soldiers and living weapons, he's watched at least two geniuses fly around in metal suits to fight bad guys, he's met aliens and enhanced royalty and alien royalty. He can remember the fear and anger he felt watching the Chitauri come through the portal and attack Manhattan.

When he sat down and thought about that day, he could actually remember watching Iron Man fly through that portal and praying that he came back. He remembers wondering what the world would do without Tony Stark. Not Iron Man, but Tony Stark. And he doesn't know when he stopped thinking that way or when he started seeing the man as the enemy.

Movement next to him catches his attention and he looks over to spot the woman he had seen the wolf guarding that day. She's very pretty, with pale, mole-dotted skin and short, dark hair.

There's no real style to her hair, as if she'd just hacked at it until she got it how she wanted it and went about her business. Her face is sharply angular and she has a wide mouth with full, pink lips. He can tell that she's petite, even smaller than Natasha, and her pregnancy is all in her belly.

"I'm Stiles." She tells him, holding out a hand to shake, her amber eyes kind.

"Sam." He tells her as he shakes her hand, sending a nervous look towards the wolf that's currently tugging a rope that Mr. Wick is holding onto. The wolves red eyes are slanted towards Sam, though.

"Oh, don't worry about Derek." Stiles tells him with a wave of her hand towards the small group. "He just wasn't expecting anyone to come into the room that day and I was asleep, in a position of vulnerability."

"Sure." Sam answers, nodding along to her explanation. Which, from what he knows about wolves, because let's be honest, he read up on the subject as soon as he could, the man's instincts would have him ready to attack at the first sign of danger to his mate.

"You seem very calm about all of this." Stiles tells him with a crooked grin, eyes holding a faint light of mischief.

"I've seen some interesting things in my life."

"That is a very tactful way to put it, Sam." Stiles tells him with a musical laugh. "I was nowhere near as calm and collected when I first learned. I thought being a werewolf was a curse, at first."

Her voice moves from playful to sad quickly, the last sentence sounding contemplative as she looked at her mate.

"My best friend got attacked and changed and he had no clue what he was turned into. He didn't know and he didn't believe, not at first. None of us realized how everything would change."

Her gaze is distant with remembering and Sam doesn't interrupt her. He does notice when her whole face lights with joy and then she's grabbing his hand and pressing it to her belly. Her grin is wide and contagious as she looks at him and he can't help but smile back as he feels a tiny hand or foot press to his palm.

It's a strange but not unwelcome sensation, he thinks, and then it happens again. Stiles laughs and lets him have his hand back as she starts to rub circles over her belly. Sam is intrigued when he sees small, purple sparks flit over her hand and fingers like tiny flashes of electricity.

"Uh, do you mind if I ask, uh, about that?" He asks her, motioning towards her hand, a bit nervous about accidentally offending her.

"Oh." Her tone is surprised as she lifts her hand with a slight laugh. "That happens sometimes. I think it's the little ones. I'm what they call a Spark. It's like having natural magic and it means that I'm not quite human."

"You were born with abilities?" He asks her.

"Yeah. I was." She nods softly. "But, they weren't really unlocked until all the craziness began in my life. I had to learn a lot on my own. My pack helped as much as they could, especially Derek and Lydia. They're both so amazing, you know? There was a, uh, some things happened a few years back and I don't think I would have survived without either of them."

"Are you okay?" Sam asks quietly, that part of him that has always wanted to help people, that part of him that had been studying to be a therapist while he ran a group at the VA, that part of him that he'd seemingly forgotten about, is pulled to the forefront.

Stiles clears her throat and sniffles slightly before clearing her throat again.

"I am, now. Being here helps, being around people that understand what it's like when you lose yourself. When you're not sure what's real. Tony's Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing Glasses have helped, too. I have to tell you, the technology is amazing. I was skeptic of it at first, it sounded too good to be true, you know? But it's helped me deal with a lot of things from a time in my life that I never thought I would truly get over."

"I'm glad to hear that." He tells her sincerely.

Somehow, he's not surprised when Dr. Strange walks across the lawn and over towards Mr. Wick.

"We are going to be receiving visitors in a moment." Dr. Strange tells the man and Sam watches as Wick nods snapping his fingers at the pit bull who stops playing immediately and moves to sit at his side. The wolf jogs over to sit at Stiles's feet, not even sending a glance at Sam.

A purple circle starts to form a ways away from them, in the middle of a big, open area. It expands, showing a swirl of light that six people step through, four men and two women, the two women and two of them covered in strange tattoos.

"Alec." Tony calls as he walks across the lawn from the direction of the compound. "Jace, Isabelle, Clary, Simon, and Magnus. Welcome back to the Avengers Compound."

"Good to be back, man." The blonde man says as he looks around, nodding towards Tony.

"Shall we head inside for the meeting?" Tony asks, turning back towards the compound as the new people follow him, along with Dr. Strange.

Sam wants to ask what that's all about, what meeting they're having, but he knows they're already on thin ice and doesn't want to make anything worse. So, he watches them go and hopes that Steve stays out of it while knowing that the other man probably won't.


End file.
